


Fall Into Me

by captainamergirl



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anyone remember Patrick?, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 07:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18310853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: A Patrick/Jennifer story that I feel honors her love for Jack too. It takes place one of the many times Jack was presumed dead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**  
  
She needed to clear her head. She needed to find peace and channel what was left of her sanity. She … She … How could she do that …? What had she done?   
  
She needed to be close to Jack now. She most of all, needed to get out of that house, out of the close, confining quarters, and away from the man who offered her comfort and relief but also brought danger into her world. He represented danger to her in all its purest forms. He was a threat to her and the house of cards she called her life. Jack had been dead less than six months and she was already …  
  
No, no she wasn’t already doing that. Whatever. Having feelings, wanting things. NO WAY! She just missed her husband, she just missed the warmth and comfort and utter joy he had brought to her life. The kiss with Him … that had meant nothing. Nothing at all, she told herself. She was just hormonal, horny maybe, lonely too of course. Kissing Him had been a bad mistake but it was a fluke. Jack could forgive her wherever he was. She knew he would. That he was too good and kind not to. He was probably looking down on her right now and laughing in that irreverent way of his, wondering why a simple kiss had driven her out of the house in freezing cold, snowy winter weather.  
  
“Because Jack, because,” she whispered into the night, just on the off chance he was listening wherever he was, “I was untrue to you tonight. When I was kissing Him you were the furthest thing from my mind …”   
  
XoXoXo  
  
_They were decorating the tree when it happened. Patrick insisted Jennifer hang the star and he had helped her onto the ladder, even nearly nine months pregnant, and stood behind her. She never felt safer than she did then with his hand resting lightly on her back and his breath warm on her neck as she climbed to the fourth tier. She placed the star on top of the[freshly](http://www.freshly.com/) cut Douglas Fir tree and started to climb down when she lost her footing a bit and went tumbling towards the ground. But of course he was there and he caught her before she could even graze the carpet floor with any of her body parts.  
  
“Are you okay?” He asked, immediately righting her in his arms.   
  
She laughed in spite of herself. “Yes, yes, I’m okay. Now that you’re here, I’m okay,” she said and her blue eyes met his smoky brown ones. She gulped deep in her throat as she stared up at his handsome face. She felt compelled to touch him then and slowly moved her hand over the contours of his chiseled jaw line. She shivered a bit as his eyes darkened in desire – just for her. Bo could say he was conning her, everyone could say that, but Jennifer knew he couldn’t fake that look. She couldn’t fake what she was feeling either. She couldn’t hide it.  
  
She suddenly reached up and tangled her hands in his hair, pulling her head down to his and brushing her lips across her warm ones. She heard him growl deep in his throat and then to her surprise, he pulled away first.  
  
“Jen –“ he started, looking at her now in surprise and regret.  
  
“Ohmigod!” Jennifer said. “I don’t … Ohmigod! What the hell did I just do? God I am so, so sorry …”  
  
“Jennifer, it’s okay. It’s okay …”  
  
“No, no its not, Patrick. Because you’re not Jack! You’re not my husband. You’re not him …”  
  
And then she had turned and ran out of the house and out into the subfreezing temperatures just to escape the fact that in that moment she had felt desire for Patrick that she hadn’t felt for anyone in such a long time …_  
  
XoXoXo  
  
_“You’re not Jack! You’re not my husband. You’re not him …”_  
  
Jennifer’s words seemed to taunt Patrick as he climbed into his truck and pulled out of the driveway, determined to go after her. He wasn’t Jack and she wanted him to be and that’s why she had kissed him. She didn’t feel for him what he felt for her, not even close. She probably never would either. She didn’t ache for him the way he ached for her. She didn’t dream about him every night and wake up panting for air and reaching for her across his pillow though he knew she would never be there. The kiss had been a fluke and as much as he had enjoyed the feel of her lips moving against his, he knew he had to stop it. He knew he couldn’t let her fall into him and use him as an emotional prop because Jack was gone. Deep down he knew he would take anything he could get from her but she made him want to be better than he really was. She deserved a true friend and not one who was plotting and scheming to rob her blind and get information on her for his employer.   
  
He had been in the wrong, yet again, and it would cost them both somehow. Her, her trust in him and maybe everyone and him … It would just hurt like hell when it was time for him to go. And he knew that would be sooner rather than later.  
  
The snow was really coming down then as his windshield wipers worked triple time to clear a path for visibility. He was worried about Jennifer. She shouldn’t have been driving when she was so upset, especially in this weather, especially when she was pregnant and especially because she was … Well, she was Jennifer and that was more than enough and even if he couldn’t have her for himself, he wanted her to be okay.  
  
_Please be okay, Jennifer,_ he thought. _Please be okay._  
  
XoXoXo  
  
One moment Jennifer had been driving and the next moment she saw blackness. When she awoke she realized that she was floating. Wondered briefly if she was dead before she felt the seeping cold wrap around her legs and torso. Heaven, if that’s where she was, was supposed to be warm and inviting and she had never felt colder and more scared.  
  
She reluctantly pulled her eyes open and looked around.   
  
That’s when she realized why she was so cold. She was sitting in her car, still tethered by the seatbelt, and water was rapidly filling the inside of it from the broken window. She was sinking down lower and lower in the icy water. She must have lost control of the car and driven right into the Salem river! And now she was going to die and so was her baby.   
  
_My baby,_ she thought as the car shifted lower and more freezing cold water gushed into the car. She protectively held her stomach as a sudden pain ripped through her abdomen. Even in her clouded mind she knew that she was now in labor too boot.  
  
_Save my baby boy, someone, anyone,_ she thought as the car finally shifted below the water level and she was now fully immersed in seemingly arctic-cold waters. Her lungs filled with water as she clawed at the seat belt and tried vainly to release the latch …


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**  
  
Patrick had checked and rechecked his cell phone at least twenty times by now as he navigated his car down the slick road. The snow and rain were coming down in sheets, nearly completely obscuring his vision. “Jen, where are you?” He asked aloud. He wanted to pound on the steering wheel in frustration but somehow resisted the impulse. It wasn't going to help any. Jennifer needed him. He sensed it and he couldn’t get angry and just give up.  
  
The phone rang all of a sudden on the passenger seat and he dove for it. _“Jennifer?”_ He immediately asked. He kept one hand on the steering wheel as the windshields wipers worked overtime. “Jen?” He asked frantically.  
  
“No, Patrick, it’s Abigail,” Jennifer’s daughter replied. “What’s wrong? You sound upset. Is Mom alright?”  
  
“Uh –“  
  
“I just got home and no one is here. I can’t reach Mom and I’m pretty worried.”  
  
_Abby should be worried,_ Patrick mused. Her mom might be lost to them now - lying in a ditch somewhere because Patrick couldn’t control his damn hormones.  
  
_No, Patrick, no. Don’t go there. Not right now. Focus, focus!_ “So your Mom never came home?” He asked.  
  
“No. I have no idea where she went. The tree is all decorated but-“ Abby didn’t finish her sentence. Patrick pictured Jennifer in his arms, kissing him. Her lips were even softer than they looked…  
  
He sighed, chasing that intimate thought away. “Don’t worry, Abby,” he said. “Your Mom is going to be fine. I’ll bring her home to you. And in case she comes home soon, call me?”  
  
“I will. Thanks, Patrick.”  
  
“Don’t thank me,” Patrick said hoarsely. And then he sighed. “I’ve got to go.”  
  
“Keep me posted.”  
  
“Will do.”  
  
Patrick threw the phone back down on the passenger seat. He sighed, hoping he hadn't just lied to Abby about finding her mother.   
  
“Jen, where are you? Where the hell are you?” He shouted into the cold night.  
  
XoXoXo  
  
_“Jennifer, Jennifer, wakey wakey,” a familiar voice said. Jennifer stirred and she was immediately blinded by an unbelievably bright white light. She looked around. She wasn’t in her car anymore. She wasn’t in the freezing cold water … And Jack was there with her. They were in a long white hallway.  
  
“Jack?” Jennifer’s eyes practically bugged out. “Jack, is that you?”  
  
“It sure is, sweetheart,” Jack replied. He reached for her hands and she slipped them into his, holding them tightly for a moment as tears cascaded down her face. She couldn’t resist hugging him then. Hugging him as hard as she could. Tears dampened his neck.  
  
Jack cupped her face in his hands. “We don’t have a lot of time, Jennifer.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked. Through her tears, she looked around. “Am I in heaven, Jack? Is that where we are right now? Do I get to be with you again?”  
  
“No, you’re not in heaven. You’re sort of in the in-between. And right now, no, you don’t get to be with me.”  
  
“Why not?!” Jennifer demanded. “Jack Deveraux, explain yourself!”  
  
“Did I ever tell you how much I like it when you get all huffy?” He shook his head. “Anyway-“  
  
“Jack, what’s going on?” Jennifer pressed. She reached to caress his cheek. “Tell me why I can’t stay here with you, wherever here is.”  
  
“Because you have way too much left to accomplish. Your family and friends need you. They **depend** on you. So does our daughter and certainly our new son will.”  
  
Jennifer looked down at her huge belly and smiled. She then reached for Jack’s hands and placed them over her belly. She saw tears fill his beautiful eyes. “Jack, our baby. He needs his father.”  
  
“He needs his mother too,” Jack said. “Just because we can’t all be together right now doesn’t mean that you can give up.” A wall clock Jennifer hadn’t noticed before hovering in the ether chimed loudly. “What’s going on?”  
  
“It means time is up. I need to send you back.”  
  
“No! Not if it means leaving you. Never.”  
  
“Jennifer, you need to go. You need to save our son and raise a beautiful boy. Maybe you could even name him after me. What do you say?”  
  
“Of course but Jack, I can’t leave you.”  
  
“Jennifer, you’re in for the toughest battle of your life. You are submerged at the bottom of the Salem river and –“  
  
“So none of this is real? This moment with you is all created by my frozen, crazed mind?” Jennifer sobbed.  
  
“Oh its very real. Your mind isn’t playing tricks on you… I was sent here to tell you to fight. To live. To save our son and love our kids and have a happy, long and fulfilled life.”  
  
“I can’t do any of those things without you.”  
  
“You **have** to. Someday we’ll be back together again but for now, embrace life Jennifer. Embrace second chances and don’t be afraid to love someone else someday.”  
  
“But I – I love you,” Jennifer wept. Fat teardrops rolled down her face. She hugged him tightly as the clock chimed again.  
  
“I love you too. Forever, sweetheart. But right now, it’s not our time. It’s your time to live. Now fight. And most importantly, break that window and swim to the surface. Do it for me, Jennifer?” He asked.  
  
“Is that what you really want?”  
  
“I’ve always been a selfish man and I selfishly want you to stay but I know you can’t. Everyone out there needs you too much,even more than me.”  
  
“Oh, Jack,” Jennifer whispered. “I love you.” She got up onto her tiptoes and kissed him as hard as she could. He returned the kiss and then lightly disentangled from her.  
  
“Goodbye, Jack,” Jennifer choked out. He waved to her.  
  
“Goodbye, Jennifer – for now,” he said and then he was gone._  
  
Jennifer blinked and suddenly she was back in the car at the bottom of the river. Her lungs burned so badly. She was so cold and the ache in her abdomen had not subsided. Rather, it was that much worse. She needed to get out of here but her brain felt so fuzzy. She knew she was quickly losing oxygen. It was now or never.  
  
What had Jack said? _Break the window, Jen,_ his voice suddenly filled her ears. _Break it now and then swim as fast as you can! Now Jennifer, now! It’s your only choice. It’s our baby’s only chance._  
  
Jennifer’s lungs constricted painfully and her eyes stung. She looked around for something, anything to shatter the window with and saw nothing at all. She had but one recourse and she hoped to God it worked. She felt for her seatbelt latch again and tugged on it viciously until it finally disengaged. She shoved it aside and then shifted so that she was floating just above the seat. She then slammed her two booted feet as hard as she could into the glass. It cracked, a fine line appearing there. She kicked the windshield frantically again and the window burst wide open, shattering violently with the water pressure. Giant shards of glass buried in her cheeks and shoulders but she didn’t let the pain stop her. She pushed her way out of the broken window and began to swim.  
  
She had only swam for what felt like five centimeters. Her movements were very sluggish and she longed to just give up but once again she heard Jack’s voice in her mind. _Swim, Jennifer, dammit! Get to safety now. Don’t give up. Never give in._  
  
She struggled upwards, kicking as hard as she could against the current. And just as she felt her lungs might burst, she broke the surface. She flailed her arms wildly as she sucked air in greedily. She shook violently from upset and the chill. She bobbed in the water for a moment then and then thought of her baby. _Jack Junior._ Yes, that’s what she would call him, just like Jack had asked. She had to get out of here before her son was born under water. Before they both died from frostbite.  
  
She fought her way through the strong current and reached the mouth of the river. Land was close by and she was never so happy to see a mound of dirt and mud. Sleet pelted her face as she reached the bank. With her last ounce of strength, she heaved herself out of the water and flopped onto her back.  
  
She was freezing as she covered her stomach. She felt as if she were turning into a human popsicle. She looked to the side. She winced as she saw the hill before her. It seemed so impossibly steep. She knew she needed to get up and try to climb it; try to flag someone down to help her but she was so tired. She didn’t have the energy to keep going, not at all.  
  
_Let me just lie here, just for a moment,_ she thought as her eyes closed.  
  
XoXoXo  
  
Patrick was so close to giving up. He had called everyone he could think of and no one claimed to have seen Jennifer. All he had succeeded in doing was upsetting and worrying her family and friends. At least Bo had dropped his accusatory tone long enough to promise to send an APB out for Jennifer. He also said he would even assist in the search.  
  
Patrick decided to take one last loop around the town. He drove forward, peering closely at every single thing he passed as the heater blew hot air in his face. He wondered if Jennifer was out there – somewhere alone, frightened and cold.  
  
He headed to the outskirts of town and slowly inched the car around the long stretch of highway overlooking the Salem river. He thought that he was probably on a wild goose chase. He was about to turn around and head back to Jennifer’s place to wait for her return. But before he could do so, a little voice prickled his ears. _Don’t give up,_ the voice implored. _Don’t give up. She’s here._  
  
Patrick thought he was hallucinating or just plain out and our insane. That voice though…   
  
_Patrick, keep looking!_ The voice shouted now. _Find Jennifer. She’s **thisclose** to you. If you just look around… Don’t mess this up or I will haunt you for eternity!_  
  
Patrick shook his head. This was insanity and yet he slowed down even more to survey the territory. That’s when he saw the large gap in the railing overlooking the river. It looked like something large had ripped right through it. Half of the metal railing was twisted and the other part was torn clean away.  
  
“What the hell?” he murmured but he understood what he seeing. There was a large enough hole in the railing now for a car to have smashed through.  
  
His first thought was Jennifer! His only thought really. He immediately stopped the car and hurtled out of it. Leaving it idling in the road, he went to the top of the incline. Visibility was extremely poor but he had to take this chance.  
  
“Jennifer! _JENNIFER!”_ He screamed. “Jennifer, are you there? Can you hear me? Scream if you can hear me!” He hurried down the muddy incline. He almost lost his balance twice on the slippery slope but kept hurrying down.  
  
The wind roared in his ears and he realized that he wouldn’t be able to hear a damn thing. Still he kept screaming at the top of his lungs.  
  
He reached level ground and looked around. Just then the sleet seemed to part for a moment, long enough for him to see a lump of maroon lying on the ground. Jennifer’s jacket. “Jennifer!” He screamed and raced to her.  
  
He wasted no time shrugging off his own jacket and pulling it over her. His hand shook as he felt for a pulse. It was there but it was very slow and irregular. He immediately picked her up, hoping to God he wasn’t hurting her worse in the process, and started back up the incline.  
  
“Jennifer!” he shouted at her. “Come on, Jen. Open those beautiful eyes of yours. Come on, Jennifer! Do this.”  
  
Just when he thought she might never respond; just as a thick lump had settled in his throat, she quietly whispered, _“Patrick?”_  
  
“Jennifer! Yes, it’s me.”  
  
“The baby, Patrick.”  
  
“What about the baby?” He asked.  
  
“He’s coming. No, he’s almost here. Help – help my son.”


End file.
